A series of three new reports from Futuresource Consulting are forecasting significant growth within the video entertainment markets of Spain, Italy and Poland.
“We’re seeing a surge in streaming revenues in Spain and Italy,” says Rachel Mitchell, Research Analyst at Futuresource Consulting. “In 2024, Spain recorded robust growth of 16% in streaming revenue, while Italy followed closely behind with 14%, and it’s coming from an alignment of different influences. There’s been an increase in investment in local content, some strategic price adjustments, and plenty of action in the ad-supported subscription tiers from major platforms like Netflix and Disney+.”
Poland is projected to have another year of double digit growth, standing at 12%, though rising by just 3% annually to 2028. Consumers are expected to hold subscriptions to 2.1 services per household, just behind behind Italy at 2.2, and Spain at 2.4.
Typically Polish viewers take a more cautious approach to the number of services they take.
For Spain and Italy, after a period of strong post-pandemic box office growth, 2024 proved challenging here and in a number of other markets, with flat or slightly declining revenues. This has had a knock-on effect on transactional video, particularly in regions where retail distribution remains static. Yet, for Poland, there’s been a significant boost from the launch of Amazon’s transactional store, which has fuelled double-digit growth in Electronic Sell-Through and Transactional Video on Demand. Futuresource expects this trend to persist over the coming years.
More short-term, the outlook for 2025 is far more optimistic for all markets, with an improved slate of film releases expected to reinvigorate both theatrical and digital transactional markets.
“Despite the rise of streaming, Pay-TV remains a cornerstone of consumer entertainment spend,” says Anastasia Budash, Lead Market Analyst, Futuresource Consulting. “This is particularly pronounced in Poland, where household penetration is at 69%. Pay-TV generated 60% of the total market revenue in 2024, supported by a high TV viewing culture, as well as a raft of market strategies employed to limit or redirect cord-cutting.”
In Spain and Italy, the sector commands a slightly smaller, but still significant share, at 47% and 44% respectively. Stability in this segment is largely due to bundled subscription deals, which now commonly integrate leading SVOD services into Pay-TV packages.
